I really like that ggg called up a few fringe players...like holmes and gyau for this match...

my problem with him is that he seems to WAAAYY overvalue "lockeroom fit" "camaraderie" "coachability" "personality" etc...

its okay to consider those things but i get the feeling he has those factors at the top of his list based on some of his lineup decisions so far....

what matters is what happens on the field.

no one cares if roldan tells a great campfire story. or if trapp makes a good smore.

and GGG shouldn't either....

(if he wants to give it a 1 or 2% weight in his roster selections that;s fine...but it seems he gives it like 50% or more...which is absurd)

I'd really like a reporter to ask him why he values "personality and lockerroom fit" so heavily.....where did he get that thought process from? as a player, was he on a team of best buds that won everything and now he's trying to re-create that? is it an (over) reaction to the split between euros and domestics under JK?

Lets find a away to make sure both Michael Bradley and Jozy Altidore continue to be starter relevance by limiting their competition.

For Bradley= No Morales, No Canouse. But lets give a kid whos not even on the gold cup roster a start instead. JEEZ this is like Arena 2006 all over again.

For Altidore= No Wood, Limit Christian Ramirez minutes in the past friendlies and not call-in the hottest American striker in Andrew Wooten. Joe Gyau, a winger, was just called in from the same bottom 2. Bundesliga player pool. But why leave out Wooten? Why?...……….WHy? Ream and Gonzalez are both older than Wooten, so the age card cant be played.

Then we run into Gregg berhalter's personal issue of his close attachments to Zardes and Trapp. Both these players play the two positions of Bradley and Altidore.

So now we have a major problem.

Garber's (the big boss of SUM,MLS and a USSF board member) close attachments ( Michael Bradley and Jozy Altidore) are going to occupy 1 DM/CM spot and 1 FW spot and then you have Berhalter's pet pal's in Trapp and Zardes occupying the other DM/CM and FW spot.

before Berhalter even makes his gameday squad, this is his building blocks based on favors and personal connection.

If we are lucky only 1 of the above 4 will start and that should be either Altidore or Zardes.

Now we have the issue of saving Arena's legacy by having Gonzalez (whos also close with berhalter) and ream around. ream can still hang in there a little bit in a tucked in LB capacity. Gonzalez? hes a disaster waiting to happen just like 2 years ago. Guess who was Berhalters coach and mentor...…..you guessed it.... Arena.

it does not end here, the worst player on our mega-talented U-20 team is Aboubacar Keita. Hes a Berhalter developed Columbus academy player and a Virginia University (Bruce's college legacy) former player. Tab Ramos has to play this guy just to kiss their asses, even though Keita gets steamrolled harder than a train-track.

We will never make progress until the old-boy network....... supports a healthy and natural transition into more adaptable hands and makes it about the future and not them.

Here come the company men.............

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Holy cow. There oughta be a tin foil hat badge affixed to user profiles in addition to the yellow/red cards handed out on these forums. Alex Jones should invite you on his show.

So Berhalter purposely started green players so as to see them fall on their faces in order to secure starting spots for MB and Jozy, eh? Forget the inconvenient fact that he also started Tim Ream and Omar Gonzalez, who are also part of the "old guard", and that they also stood to be exposed as incompetent -- in your alternate universe, Greg actually wanted the young players exclusively to embarrass themselves in such humiliating fashion so that veterans can solidify their starting spots.

And even if it means the loss of his own job -- and the possible black mark on his future resume, Berhalter is willing to sabotage the entire USMNT program and his own career just so he remains on good terms with some of the old timers...

There's more evidence to support the existence of the Easter Bunny than there is in your conspiracy theory.

Pretty annoyed that he kept Sargent And Amon off the U-20 squad and then didn’t call them up.

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That’s the insanity of it.

The only way he should have prevented Sargent and Amon from being included on the u-20’s is that they were a lock for the Gold Cup. That specifically hurts Sargent who needed a good summer tournament to gain some confidence going into next year.

That said, I’m sort of grateful that they weren’t included because I can’t think of whose spot I wish they would have taken; definitely not Soto who is having a break out tournament... maybe Konrad who hasn’t been quite as good.

Additionally though, in what universe do you call in 40 players!!!! And then start a player outside that 40. Seriously, if Yueill was good enough to start then why isn’t he even in the top 40?

And what the hell happened to Ethan Horvath?

I can’t understand this coach. His player selections are all jacked up. He’s reactive instead of proactive. He favors the worst players. Plus, he is holding onto old dogs who need to be put to rest. He plays our best players out of position and comes up with the worst formations. And the energy of the team is completely flat.

Honestly, he’s so bad that I’d take Sarachan over him at this point. Hell, I’d take Sampson again over him.... he’s THAT bad.

Interestingly Berhalter’s logic was that with Lletget’s injury he needed extra midfield options and that meant dropping a forward and he judged Zardes as ahead of Sargent. Never mind that Sargent’s goals per game is about double Zardes’. It seem forwards are supposed to stretch defenses and not, you know, actually score goals.

Maybe the coaching staff doesn’t understand that whole “score goals” thing which would explain a lot.

The only way he should have prevented Sargent and Amon from being included on the u-20’s is that they were a lock for the Gold Cup. That specifically hurts Sargent who needed a good summer tournament to gain some confidence going into next year.

That said, I’m sort of grateful that they weren’t included because I can’t think of whose spot I wish they would have taken; definitely not Soto who is having a break out tournament... maybe Konrad who hasn’t been quite as good.

Additionally though, in what universe do you call in 40 players!!!! And then start a player outside that 40. Seriously, if Yueill was good enough to start then why isn’t he even in the top 40?

And what the hell happened to Ethan Horvath?

I can’t understand this coach. His player selections are all jacked up. He’s reactive instead of proactive. He favors the worst players. Plus, he is holding onto old dogs who need to be put to rest. He plays our best players out of position and comes up with the worst formations. And the energy of the team is completely flat.

Honestly, he’s so bad that I’d take Sarachan over him at this point. Hell, I’d take Sampson again over him.... he’s THAT bad.

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Horvath is hurt I think. But otherwise agree 100%.

Win the Gold Cup or GTFO. And it's 100x worse because we let Mexico poach Tata from right under our noses.

He’s out injured but I wouldn’t be shocked if he wanted to focus his club situation knowing that there’s nothing he can do to win the starting role as 3G gave it to Steffen the second he has hired and favored Johnson because of “familiarity” from the Jan Camp. It’s got to be frustrating knowing you won’t be given a legit chance.